Often times, when a vehicle, particularly an automobile which equipped with an automatic transmission, is placed in gear by moving the gear shift selector from the park position to an operative position, the vehicle has a tendency to move suddenly forwardly or rearwardly. This condition is most prevalent when the vehicle is initially started and is in the fast idle condition. In this condition, the engine is turning at higher revolutions per minute then under normal operating conditions. This power is suddenly transmitted to the vehicle when the gear selector lever is moved from the park position causing the vehicle to lurch either forwardly or rearwardly. This sudden movement can possibly create a hazardous situation. Specifically, if a person or animal is near the vehicle, or the vehicle is parked adjacent a stationary object, the vehicle, upon sudden rapid movement may strike the nearby obstacle causing harm. Typically, the sudden movement occurs before the vehicle operator can react to prevent the movement.
It is a further problem in today's smaller vehicles that the vehicle brake pedal is disposed very near the vehicle accelerator pedal. Both pedals are typically small and can be easily mistaken by a driver who is not paying strict attention to which pedal is being depressed. Thus, it is not uncommon for a driver to inadvertently depress the accelerator pedal believing it is the brake pedal when moving the gear selector lever thereby causing the car rapidly accelerate.
Also, a problem exists when a vehicle operator leaves an automobile with the engine running and having a small child in the vehicle. The small child may attempt to remove the selector lever from the park position. Generally, a small child is neither large nor dexterous enough to simultaneously depress the vehicle brake pedal and move the gear selector lever from the parked position.
It is, therefore, desirable to equip the vehicle with an assembly which positively prevents movement of the vehicle gear selector lever from the park position until the vehicle brake pedal is actuated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,935 to O'Hern, issued Feb. 12, 1980 discloses such an assembly which requires actuation of the vehicle brake pedal prior to movement of the gear selector lever. The assembly includes a rod disposed on the end of the gear selector lever which rotates as the gear selector lever is moved. A blocking plate is pivotally disposed behind the vehicle firewall near the steering column. The blocking plate is spring biased to a locked position. When in the locked position, the blocking plate engages the rod on the gear selector lever shaft and thereby prevents movement on the gear selector. To move the locking plate to the unlocked position, the vehicle brake pedal is depressed. A solenoid is actuated by the actuation of the brake pedal and moves the blocking plate against the biasing of the spring to an unlocked position. In the unlocked position, the rod on the end of the gear selector lever shaft is free to rotate. This allows the gear selector lever to freely move from the parked position to the operative positions. This prior art assembly requires installation of a complex blocking assembly which is both time and labor intensive.